Top Tips for Completing an Application
- Before you start, check out the job description and person specification
Understand what the job involves. Why are you interested in the position? The person specification highlights the key things we are looking for, as well as how we intend to measure when you have them. The essential criteria are those things which you must have in order to do the job, so it’s important that you are able to say ‘yes, I’ve got those’ before you invest time and effort in completing your form. Desirable criteria are qualities we believe would be an advantage for you to have. But don’t panic if you don’t have them – often, these are areas we would look to develop within the role, so they may simply be ways we can train you up. Of course, if we get lots of applications for the role, we may use the desirable criteria to narrow things down a little.
- Be yourself
As we mentioned earlier, our values are a really important part of how we recruit. We’re looking to find out whether your personality will be a good fit for the role, so be honest and be yourself – let your personality shine through in your application form and tell us how our values fit in your life.
- Tell us all about it
We often find that applicants will state that they have what it takes to do the job, but don’t tell us why in enough detail. Please make sure you tell us why or how you meet the person specification. A good way to make sure you’re telling us what we need to know is to have a look at the person specification and note down an example that proves you have the skills, knowledge or experience in each thing on the list. Every time you tell us you have what it takes on your application form, give us one of your examples.
- Don’t send us your CV
We won’t accept CVs, so please don’t send us yours. We’re looking for some specific information that we want to ask you about on your application form, so we won’t consider your CV as an application for the role on offer.
